Silver Lotus
by ninja pirate princess
Summary: Danica Aster made one mistake: destroying a guild's lobby. Now she's forced to join said guild to pay her debt back. However, this isn't exactly what she thought she was getting into. Action, adventure, betrayal, cults, friendship, & romance. She just wanted stay out of trouble, but when conflict arises, will she have the courage to stand up and fight? (EDITED)


Those places you've only seen pictures of. Maybe it's the clear ocean, surrounded by the pale sandy beaches. The kind of sand that you almost don't want to disturb, but you can't help it. Anything that disrupts the sand's pattern sinks slowly, then stops, enveloping it in soft comfort. When the water meets the land, it's natural, like the song you've known your whole life. The kind of song that you can listen to for hours beyond end. A song that just wraps you in its melody, becoming a part of you.

One thing about beaches, they're only found on the edge of land. However, deep within a continent, lies, not a beach, but a forest.

A forest like you see in children's books, the kind where the trunks of trees are a chestnut brown. The kind of trunks that are too big for you to wrap your arms around, and when you look up, your eyes are captivated by one color: green. A lush green that reminds you of life, where you're sure you can think of a thousand other objects with the same color, yet you can't name them. The trees' branches stretch out, each with smaller branches containing that color of leaves. The leaves and branches are so close together that only rays of sunlight can break through. The sunlight can reach the ground, and cover the roots of the large trees, and that was enough.

That's… That's where I live.

I walk along the green floor, my feet enveloped in the cool grass.

Gradually climbing the tree is no effort for me, but when I reached the top, I peeked me head out from under the leaves. Feeling the cool wind on my face, I closed my pale green eyes, and breathe in. My long mahogany brown hair dances along with the wind.

Tranquility. Peace. Quiet. This is all I ever wanted.

With my eyes still closed, my brows knit together. There's a foul smell in the air, one I can't really recall.

My eyes snap open as I duck down under the leaves once again. I look for something, not leaving my spot as my eyes dart around the tree.

"Olly?" I say, my voice not loud enough to echo, but enough shake the leaves in front of me. "Olly?" I repeat, louder.

I jump down from the tree, hearing a rip come from below. Glancing down, notices a tear in my loose cargo pants. I breathe out hastily. Are you serious?

 _One more?_ I think to myself. Looking at my person I count the other rips in my clothing. _One…_ A hole in the shirt on my left elbow, _Two…_ My right knee, _Three…_ Behind my left ankle, _Four…_ A tear on the back of my shirt near the middle where I can feel my hair brush up against my bare skin, _Five…_ My right elbow-

BOOM!

I hear an explosion that makes my heart jump.

"Oleander!" I scream out, my echo ringing throughout the forest.

I don't wait for an answer, I take off running in the direction of the explosion. With nothing below me, my feet pound against the ground, the cool grass not giving me any resistance. The sunlight creating stripes along the path I've set my eyes on, making my way towards an opening of land where no trees are. Before I can pass the opening, something rams into my side, causing me to fall over.

"Oof!" I manage to strain out as I can feel myself slide along the forest floor. I make eye contact with whatever collided with me, and I'm met with piercing blue eyes.

A canine with fur as white as his teeth, pins me down, one paw on my chest. He's breathing heavily, tongue out, his hot breath on my face.

"Off." I say, and the dog climbs off me to sit on his own. "You should know better!" I scold him. I see his ears droop as he acknowledges my stern tone, but I can't stay mad at him. I notice is paws are a light green from the grass around him.

I can't help but smile and pat his head, his tail wagging wildly, and ears perked up.

"What did you do this time?" I ask him. He doesn't respond, just tilts his head slightly.

Another explosion caused both to turn their heads. My hands balled up in fists as I stood up.

"What the hell is that?" I asked out loud, running in the direction of the blasts. Oleander runs along my side, a serious look on his face.

We ran for what seemed like forever before finally coming to accessible area where the trees surrounded an empty plane. Well empty would be an understatement since there were two men in the middle of the glade.

* * *

There was a man with bright yellow hair, wearing a dark green shirt tucked into his brown pants. A vest enveloped his chest, tied in the middle with black yarn. There was something draped across his back that was hidden, but his arms were free with no weapon. His pale forearms were covered with a leather covering that kept his fingers untouched.

"Are you sure this is alright?" He yelled to the other side of the plane. When there was no answer, he called again. "Ren?"

Across the way was another man with jet black hair that spilled over his head, just reaching his chin. He wore a sleeveless black vest, with red outlining every edge, exposing his tanned slightly muscular arms. His loose, baggy black pants were tucked into his ankle-high boots.

"What?!" He yelled to the blonde man.

"I mean, this place is just too pretty. You sure about this?"

"You've already done it twice, and _now_ you want to back down?" The dark-haired man placed his hands on his hips mockingly. "I'm gonna toss it, and if you don't wanna, then don't, alright?" There was a mumble in response. "Uri?!" He yelled, annoyed.

"Yeah, yeah, okay…" Uri responded. He turned his back, facing away from Ren with a serious look on his face.

Ren took a deep breath, extending his arms, then clasped his hand together quickly. A glowing circle started to form around him.

 _Mages._ I thought to myself, beginning to direct my attention to something else. _They're barbaric. It'd be best just to leave them alone._ That's what I thought, but my curiosity got the better of me. I positioned my body to keep within the shadows, but kept my eye on the dark haired one.

He cracked his knuckles as his feet began to sink slowly into the earth below him.

 _Elemental Magic._ I rolled my eyes, there's so many of them out there. I've seen many of them wander through this forest before. There were fire mages that tried to burn trees, water mages that would gather energy by the rivers, even wind mages that would try to create tornadoes to see if they could turn the forest into a wasteland. _He'll mess up the terrain and I'll have to level it out again…_ Great. One more thing to worry about.

However, this was something I had never seen before. In one swift motion the ground bounced him up, as if it was made of rubber. He must've been at least twenty feet in the air before he descended.

"IMPACT," Ren yelled he hit the ground, sinking into the earth once more. A stone pillar had ascended itself from under a tree behind him, shooting it out of the ground. Roots dangling at the ends, and dirt scattered all around as it soared through the sky. The whole forest began to shake with the sudden disruption.

The tree was thrown to the other end of the glade, towards Uri, who spun around. He brought his hands together, then there was a bright flash as a glowing bow appeared. Pulling his left arm back, a yellow glowing arrow was summoned.

"HECTIC-" Uri let go of the arrow, "SHOT!"

With the arrow gliding through the air, there was another shine, and the one arrow became three. Each of the bright arrows moved in a curved pattern, crossing each other's path in a smooth motion. Before the tree could make its downward fall, all three arrows made contact on the same point.

There was a loud explosion sound as the tree was no longer what it used to be. Instead of its dark green leaves wafting in the wind, there were only charred remains. Bits of the burnt wood flew in different directions, being too heavy to be guided by the wind.

When I looked back at Uri, the bow was gone, and so was his serious face. Instead there was a smile instead.

"Hey Ren! Did you see that?!" He yelled to Ren across the way who gave him a thumbs up.

"Ya know," Ren yelled from the other side, "If we clear out more of these trees I could create a training ground for us. Wouldn't that be cool?!"

I was not amused. It's one thing to train here, that's fine. Hurling trees out of the ground and not knowing when to stop? Not okay for me. I could feel my eyes widen with annoyance at the sight of such disruptiveness of nature.

"Oleander, HUNT!" I patted Olly's back for him to get a move on.

The dog quickly took no time rushing towards Uri. When Uri finally noticed the dog, he froze.

"R-Ren!" Uri tried to cry out, his legs beginning to shake.

Oleander began to growl and snarl, drool leaking from his mouth. With a few loud barks, Uri was taken back. It wasn't until Olly ran again before Uri took the hint to get a move on. Stumbling over his feet, Uri started running full speed back into the forest.

"Ren!" He yelled as he took off.

Ren took notice of his friend's disappearance. "Uri, no!" He took off in the same direction. "Shit!"

"Hmph." That trick works every time. Well… almost every time. They didn't seem all that tough, so Olly should be fine.

Once the clearing was empty again, I emerged from the shadows and ran towards the spot where the trees where ripped from the ground.

It was a sight not unknown, but it gave me an uneasy feel. The neat green grass was now disturbed with a tall, deep brown stone column. I ran my hand across its surface. Bumpy, cold, sloppy. I've seen way better craftsmanship than this. So, I guess these mages were just amateurs.

But why do I feel this way? It's not like the tree was a part of me. It feels like something was plucked out of me as well. I just stare at the base of the column, thinking. I was soon lost in thought. What brought me back to reality was the matter of a wild mage chasing after Oleander who was chasing after some cowardly mage.

I placed two fingers on the ground, a about a foot away, and dragged my fingers in a circle motion around the column. There was a dull glow, and I turned and ran to the direction where Olly made chase.

Looking back to the ground where I had just touch previously, I saw that a ring of different flowers had bloomed.

* * *

Moving my bangs away from my face, I stood silently, listening for any sign of ruckus.

"Olly?" I called out, hoping not to draw too much attention to myself. "Olly!" I whistled rapidly, "Here boy!" I suddenly felt the ground beneath me beat steadily from behind. when I turned I was met with the canine. Kneeling, I let Olly nuzzle close to me, his short fur brushing against My hands. "Who's a good boy, huh?" I cooed at him, his tail wagged in response.

It was strange that he wasn't trying to nibble on my hands, or lick my face, so I placed my hands from his head to mouth. He had some kind of metal between his teeth. When I pulled it away from him, I wiped the slobber onto my pants, then inspected it closely. It was a badge of a lotus.

"Nice find, Olly!" I praised him heartedly. It's not every day that we come across new loot! "Let's find the stream and then go home, okay?" Oleander followed behind as I led the way.

On the way back home, I would make small comments to Olly, as if he would answer back to me... Nothing too complicated, just how I couldn't believe those mages, or how I thought they'd put up more of a fight when it came to dogs. I would've given anything to see how Olly snagged this badge off one of them. Well, almost anything. The few possessions I have are precious and personal, they can't simply be traded.

Once we were deeper into the forest, the stream we were following soon became a lake. The water was clear, yet you couldn't see the bottom. However, when you looked into the lake, it was almost like a mirror, and if you stepped in, you would find yourself in some strange world, but this water didn't come from nowhere. The waterfall on the other side of the lake dropped water from a cliff.

Making our way to the rocky cliff where the water fell, I looked up at the wall, then to the waterfall. Behind the fall was a gaping space, that… that's what I called home.

"Olly, CLIMB!" I pointed up to the wall with the command.

Oleander curved his back, ready to pounce, but not before his paws emitted a glowing blue light as his claws extended. Jumping onto the wall, his claws pierced the rock wall no problem, and from then on, he slowly made his way up the wall, creating more creases and scratches into the wall as he climbed.

"My turn," I whispered to myself. Placing my hands on the rocky wall, I thought of the one thing I knew would help me scale the wall. "CLEMANTIS TERNIFLORA," I whispered as thin vines with white flowers began to grow from my hands. As thin as they were alone, together, they were strong and tough.

The vines climbed their way up the wall until they reached the cavern behind the waterfall. Just like I had done many times before, hoisted myself up and bit by bit, scaled the large rocky terrain.

* * *

The cave wasn't deep, but it was home. Old blankets and pillows that had been gathered where kept on the floor, and Olly was found on his large pillow by himself, whimpering.

"What's wrong with you?" I asked, A feeling of worry washing over me for some reason. Something caught my attention from the corner of my eye. It wasn't something sticking out, rather something that wasn't present. I walked over to an area of the cave that should never be touched. A place where all my keepsakes were kept. However, where my most precious belongings should be, there was nothing.

A moment of panic came over me as my body began to tingle and sweat with fear. _My box, my books, my bracelet, my-_ I stopped my thought as something drew me to the farthest wall.

Though it was faint to sight, my fingers moved along the creases made inside the bumpy stone wall. It was the shape of a lotus.

Taking the badge that Oleander found out of my pocket, I examined them both.

"They're the same." I spoke out loud, confirming my thoughts.

"You think you can wreck my home twice and get away with it? No way. I'm getting my stuff back!" I turned back to Oleander, who was sitting at attention. "Olly, we're going on a hunt!"

* * *

 **IMPORTANT NOTE:**

 **I'm making my comeback with a challenge to myself! I've never written a fanfic with all Original Characters in a known universe, so this is a first. This will be a continuing story and I do want to take this seriously with everything a story has. There will be conflict, character growth, romance, friendship, mystery, and so much more. Please let me know what you think, and if you want more. If not, I'll shelve this story to never see the light of day, which I don't want because I have so much planned. This is the prologue, so when the main story starts, there will be a faster pace. I hope everyone can enjoy reading this story as I do writing it. What do you think the main character will be named? In case it wasn't caught earlier, all the names in the story do have meaning behind them. Try and see if you can guess their real meanings! I must end this prologue part here, but there will be more. The next part will be the last part of the prologue, and more will be revealed! Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I hope you will look forward to next time (I know I will)!**

 **-Ninja**


End file.
